Hard Revolution (George Pelecanos)

Hard Revolution 

George Pelecanos

Blurb: In the spring of 1968, Martin Luther King preaches in vain for non-violent protest against the US government; the world is enthralled but the new black communities of Washington, DC still seethe with anger against the iniquities of their society.

Derek Strange has witnessed the white establishment crush his mother, father, and friends their entire lives. Yet, barely out of school, Derek chooses to become a rookie cop in a police-force run by those he despises. Can one young man possibly make a difference? Derek believes that he can, but many of his own kind feel that he's a traitor. Meanwhile his older brother, Dennis, has recently returned from a stint in the military and with no job and no prospect of getting one, is drifting towards drugs and deadly alliances. And in another part of the city, a group of young men, twisted with racial hate, thrill-kill a young black man and plan a shotgun robbery that will have devastating implications for Derek, his partner Troy Peters, and Vaughn, a hard homicide investigator with ties to the Strange family.

Then, on April 4th, 1968, Dr King is assassinated on the balcony of his motel in Memphis, Tennessee. And the black nation rises as one to condemn the slaying of one of their prophets. For one week, it seems that the whole country will fall into the abyss. Derek, his family, and his whole community find themselves in the midst of a battle for the heart and soul of this new world as the violent side of the civil rights movement comes upon America in a volcanic fury.

Hard Revolution is the new epic novel from one of America's most powerful crime writers, a story of one man's journey into the fires of a revolution. 

ISBN: 0752856308 (Hardback)

Year: 2004

Publisher: Orion

Pages: 376 (Fiction)

Links

1. Review of the book

2. Goodreads page

3. Buy from Amazon

4. Wikipedia page for the author

5. Another review

General George Washington: A Military Life (Edward G. Lengel)

General George Washington: A Military Life

Edward G. Lengel

Blurb: Much has been written in the past two centuries about George Washington the statesman and 'father of his country.' Less often discussed is Washington's military career, including his exploits as a young officer and his performance as the Revolutionary War commander in chief. Now, in a revealing work of historical biography, Edward G. Lengel has written the definitive account of George Washington the soldier.

Based largely on Washington's personal papers, this engrossing book paints a vivd, factual portrait of a man to whom lore and legend so tenaciously cling. To Lengel, Washington was the imperfect commander. Washington possessed no great tactical ingenuity, and his acknowledged 'brilliance in retreat' only demonstrates the role luck plays in the fortunes of all great men. He was not an enlisted man's leader; he made a point of never mingling with his troops. He was not an especially creative military thinker; he fought largely by the book. By no means a professional, he was a citizen soldier who, at a time when warfare demanded that armies manoeuvre efficiently in precise formation, had little practical training handling men in combat.

Yet despite his flaws, Washington was a remarkable figure, a true man of the moment, a leader who possessed a clear strategic, national, and continental vision and who inspired complete loyalty in his fellow revolutionaries, officers, and enlisted men. America could never have won freedom without him.

Washington, a trained surveyor, mastered topography and used his superior knowledge of battlegrounds to maximum effect. He appreciated the importance of strong allies in times of crisis, and understood well the benefits of coordinating ground and naval forces. Like the American nation itself, he was a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts - a remarkable everyman whose acts determined the course of history. Lengel argues that Washington's excellence was in his completeness, in how he united the military, political. and personal skills necessary to lead a nation in war and peace.

At once informative and engaging, and filled with some eye-opening revelations about Washington, the war for American independence, and the very nature of military command, General George Washington is a book that reintroduces readers to a figure many think they already know.

ISBN: 1400060818 (Hardback)

Year: 2005

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 450 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Amazon

2. Google books page

3. American History page on George Washington

4. Wikipedia page for George Washington

5. Wikipedia page on the author

Game of Thrones: Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire (George R.R. Martin)

Game of Thrones: Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire

George R.R. Martin

Blurb: Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men. All will play the Game of Thrones.

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plot, lusts and intrigues; to the vast frozen north where a 700-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. The Game of Thrones. You win, or you die.

Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire begins the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age.

ISBN: 9780007428540 (Paperback)

Year: 1996

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Pages: 801 (Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page for the series

2. Wikipedia page for the book

3. Buy from Amazon

4. Google books page

5. News of a video game based on the book

The Phantom Menace - Star Wars Episode I (Patricia C. Wrede)

The Phantom Menace - Star Wars Episode I

Patricia C. Wrede

Blurb: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

A world is threatened

A young queen must save her people.

A dark evil rises again.

A young Jedi is discovered.

The journey begins.

ISBN: 0590010891 (Paperback)

Year: 1999

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 178 (Fiction)

Links

1. Good reads page

2. Buy from Amazon

3. Page from Star Wars Wiki on the book

4. Wikipedia page for the author

5. Wikipedia page for the film the book is based on

The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History, 1775-1865 (John Grafton)

The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History, 1775-186

Edited by John Grafton

Blurb: The great documents in this important collection helped form the foundation of American democratic government. Compelling, influential, and often inspirational, they range from Patrick Henry's dramatic 'Give me liberty or give me death' speech at the start of the American Revolution to Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, issued in the closing weeks of the Civil War. Also included are the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson's classic rationale for rejecting allegiance to the government of King George III; the Monroe Doctrine, the cornerstone of American foreign policy and these other landmark statements;

-The Constitution of the United States

- James Madison: The Federalist, No. 10

- George Washington: First Inaugural Address

- George Washington: Farewell Address

- Thomas Jefferson: First Inaugural Address

- William Lloyd Garrison: Prospectus for the Liberator

- Andrew Jackson: Veto of the Bank Bill

- Abraham Lincoln: First Inaugural Address

- Abraham Lincoln: Emancipation Proclamation

- Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address

An introductory note precedes the text of each historic document, providing fascinating background history and information about the author. An indispensable reference for students, this handy compendium will also serve as an invaluable introduction for general readers to American political writing.

ISBN: 9780486411248 (Paperback)

Year: 2000

Publisher: Dover Publications

Pages: 96 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Publisher's Site

2. Buy at Amazon

3. Declaration of Independence in full

4. History of the USA at Wikipedia

5. Author's page at goodreads